The long-awaited sequel to Neville's excellent debut novel, The Eight, and it's pretty meh. I admit I probably did not come into this in the best mindset: The Eight is just so good, it's hard not to expect The Fire to be just as engrossing. Then again, it didn't help that one of my favorite characters was killed off in the freaking prologue either. Anyway, the gist of this story is that The Game has been restarted thirty years after the events in The Eight - both in the present (Alexandria, daughter of Cat and Solarin) and past (Mirielle's son Charlot) timelines. There's a lot of random people involved, a lot of talk about Original Instructions which may or may not refer to sexual intercourse, loads of obscure chess references that don't make a whole lot of sense, and very few loose ends tied up. I was quite clear on the purpose of the Montglane Service at the end of The Eight; now I have no idea. The inevitable love story between the narrator and the mysterious foreigner was all too predictable. The twist ending left me with a bad taste in my mouth, it was so contrived. All in all, just not a very good book. I kept reading, hoping things would pick up, but they never did. Alas. ( )

I selected this book from the Early reviewers batch because it sounded rich in detail, intrigue, and history. It is that! I had a hard time trying to get into this book, and indeed didn't make it very far yet. I suspect I need to read the first book, which I have, in order to get the flavor. Very deep stuff, though!

While I do love an epic suspense novel, the more complex the better, I found this novel difficult to get into. I have a feeling that if I re-read it and found a way to get hooked, I would really love the detail, intrigue, and historical elements. Until I give it another go, I have to say the book left me less than impressed.

This book is a lot of fun, though it suffers from too many characters and quite a lot of plot threads. Neville makes the chess analogies clear, and it's fun to see how they relate to the story, but there were still moments when it seemed like Neville dived into infodumps. It took me a while to get through this book due to real life intruding, and I found myself forgetting what had happened in the previous chapter when the POV switched from modern times to historical times. There is a lot to keep track of, but it's worth it.

There is a fantastical element to this (and the first novel in this series) though I'm not sure it really got explained in this one. I was glad to see characters return from the previous book, though most of them come back in the periphery.

A good read, if you've got the patience to sort out the many characters, POV/time shifts, and plot threads. I'd like to go back and read it again when I have plenty of time to consider it fully. ( )

As a child, Alexandra Solarin's father is shot in front of her eyes at a chess tournament in Russia. The mysteries surrounding his death don't begin to explain themselves until Alexandra is much older. As an apprentice chef, she has now given up on chess, but the game hasn't abandoned her. Her mother, Cat Velis, throws a birthday party and invites not only Alexandra but several of her irritating neighbors, Alexandra's aunt Lily Rad, her best friend Nokomis Key, and her last chess opponent, Vartan Azov. The truth behind her parents' past is revealed to Alexandra bit by bit as the next stage in the game plays itself out against elaborate backdrops with hugely prominent characters holding pivotal roles in the search for the purpose of the Montglane Service.

Unfortunately, I was not a fan of The Eight, the first book in this duology. I knew I wasn't going to like The Fire and I continued to put it off, but I did agree to review it, so I had to read it eventually. Waiting did not help me to like it any better. My biggest problem with it was that the book was very difficult to follow, particularly for me, since I don't really like puzzles. The story alternates between two time periods and I had some difficulty figuring out just why. It's hard to maintain the threads of the story across time and there seems to be little to no purpose for all the famous name dropping. It does give background as to why the chess pieces are where they are, but I'm not sure that was entirely necessary for the story.

I already mentioned it, but I don't like books that involve puzzles or riddles. It's always irritating when the characters solve a riddle and say, "Of course!" and proceed to explain the meaning behind it; I'd have never had a clue, so I was happy that they were explaining, but the entire book seemed like a huge complicated mess to me. I dislike puzzles that are impossible for me to solve. I think it would have been even worse if I hadn't read The Eight. I would not recommend starting with this book, it would be too confusing. It's hard to care about the characters; even Alexandra wasn't particularly appealing and fell totally flat, which is never good with a main character.

In short, I felt like this book was a disaster for me. I don't like this type of book and even the historical sections didn't appeal. They just felt tacked on, especially with the historical characters that are included purely for name dropping, and took away from the more suspenseful plot with Alexandra and her many friends. I have no interest in reading books of this kind. Overall I would say that if you enjoyed The Eight or The Da Vinci Code, give this a shot. If you didn't, don't. ( )